This invention relates to electric toasters, and particularly to toasters which can be electronically controlled and programmed to provide a toasted product to suit various tastes.
Automatic electric toasters have been used in the home for decades to toast slices of bread and other bakery items such as English muffins, crumpets, bagels and prepared pastries. Most toasters include simple adjustment mechanisms to regulate the degree of toasting by the setting of a mechanical timer to raise the toast at the appropriate time and simultaneously turn off the toaster at the desired degree of toasting from light to dark.
Alternatively, the degree of toasting can be determined by the use of temperature and/or humidity sensors such as thermistors. Unfortunately, automatic toasters must be reset to vary the degree of toasting according to individual tastes or variety of bakery goods toasted. This is usually accomplished by trial and error, resulting in unsatisfactory results and waste.
According to the invention, there is provided an automatic electric toaster for food products including a housing; toasting means located within said housing for receiving and radiantly toasting food products; automatic elevator means associated with said toasting means for lowering said food products from a first raised position for access to the food products to a second lowered position for toasting said food products; and programmable control means for operatively controlling said toasting means and said elevator means, said programmable control means including means for recording and operatively running a plurality of predetermined and preselected toasting cycle programs.
The automatic toaster embodying the present invention provides a simple, efficient and attractive means of toasting a variety of bakery goods to different tastes and degrees of toasting, without the need to reset a timer or other such control each time such tastes change.
The toaster, in its preferred embodiment, includes a programmable automatic elevator system which can be set to a variety of tastes. The automatic elevator system is controlled by a microchip which includes a programmable timer function. A number of programs are available, e.g., three, corresponding to three different time settings, which, in turn, correspond to three different degrees of toasting. In use, after toast is inserted in the unit's slot, the toaster is programmed to a specified time, preferably by pressing a single button, and started. The toast is then automatically lowered and toasted. Near the end of the allotted time the toast is automatically elevated while an alarm tone is sounded.
It is a principal feature of the invention to provide a digitally programmable automatic toaster capable of toasting a variety of bakery goods to a variety of tastes.
It is another feature of the invention to provide such a toaster with an automatic toast elevator system that is raised and lowered by means of an electric motor.
It is a further feature of the invention to provide such a toaster with a digital clock display to count down the remaining time until the toast is ejected from the toaster.
It is a still further feature of the invention to provide a toaster which will include a compensation factor to adjust for various degrees of preheating of the unit.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described in reference to a toaster and by way of example only with the understanding that food products other than just bread slices could be toasted with the present invention.